Independence Seaport Museum

The basics

Visitors to the Independence Seaport Museum explore independently. Highlights include a shipbuilding workshop, Philadelphia naval and commercial maritime history exhibitions, a full-scale model schooner, and the two showpiece ships berthed outside on the riverfront—the Olympia, the world’s oldest floating steel warship, and the World War II submarine Becuna.

Prebook a museum-and-ships ticket online to save time while in Philadelphia, or consider a Go City: Philadelphia Explorer or other sightseeing pass for free or discounted admission to multiple attractions. You can also book a hop-on, hop-off bus tour to travel to the museum and other Philadelphia landmarks, or opt for a city sightseeing pass that incorporates museum entry and a hop-on, hop-off tour.

Things to know before you go

• Allow about 3 hours to cover the whole site.

• The museum building is accessible to strollers and wheelchairs, but the vessels are not.

• On-site facilities include a gift shop, coat check, and restrooms.

• Be prepared to navigate ladders, hatches, and gangways on board the ships; children must be at least 3 years old to tour the Becuna, and at least 10 for the Olympia Engine Room tour.

How to get there

The museum is on the Delaware riverfront at Philadelphia’s Penn’s Landing, just a stroll from the historic district. Buses stop at Penn’s Landing, while the nearest subway stations are the 2nd Street station on the Market-Frankford line and 8th and Market Street on the Broad-Ridge Spur. Paid parking is available next to the museum, with discounts for ticket holders.

When to get there

The Independence Seaport Museum is open daily throughout the year, with the exception of major public holidays. The museum rarely gets overcrowded, but is at its quietest at the beginning or end of the day. Tours of the ships take place three times daily.

What to see at the Independence Seaport Museum

The museum's two floors of exhibits include shipbuilding tools, documents, model ships, galleries on themes such as pirates and shipwrecks, and displays on the Philadelphians lost on the Titanic in 1912. Most visitors then tour the two vessels docked outside: the 1892-built Olympia—the oldest surviving ship from the Spanish-American War—and the Becuna submarine, which prowled the Pacific during World War II in search of enemy ships.